teacake does Stargate: punch it

I recall Jolene Blalock in some episodes, and Robert Picardo, too. I can't recall anyone else off the top of my head, but there are bound to be a few more.

In the Line of Duty had interesting ramifications.

I forget when they started the intense DVD commentaries (For most of the series, the directors, producers, actors, or others would provide a running commentary for the entire episode. All of it was interesting, like an advanced TV production/directing/acting class, and much of it was hilarious, such as a long passionate debate on the merits of Dixie Cream donuts versus Tim Horton's.

The director's series (seperate from the voice-commentary) is posted on Youtube, but it would be thick with spoilers.

I like to immerse myself in the world and commentaries take me out of that so I'll probably never get around to watching them. And yeah I'm aiming to power watch Stargate. There's just so much of it I don't want to drag it out for a year. I'm trying to catch up on all unwatched or patchily watched sci fi shows.

And it was interesting how The Gatekeeper couldn't access Carter's mind because of what happened to her in In the Line of Duty. I'm hoping they revisit that.

Yes, and they left some questions completely unanswered, even unasked. For example, suppose Carter's Gou'ald symbiote, Jolinar, hadn't died at the end of the episode, and Carter/Jolinar kept working for the Stargate Program. The Air Force pays Carter as an O-3 captain, but wouldn't they also have to pay Jolinar as either a GSA-15 (considering its service age, etc) or as a member of the federal senior executive service, which maxes out at about $180,000 a year? So wouldn't Carter/Jolinar get two paychecks from two different government branches, and wouldn't Jolinar's paycheck (probably as an ambassador or high-level liason) exceed Carter's pay? Since blended Goa'uld and hosts can live so long, would caps be placed on Carter/Jolinar's pension benefits? Would Carter get hazardous duty pay while off planet, while Jolinar gets hazardous duty pay on planet?

The writers never touched on these questions (perhaps because Jolinar died), yet we know they are among the first issues her superiors would have to address.

I would think so! The IRS gives a marriage deduction, so I don't see how something much more intimate than marriage wouldn't merit even more than that, or why any symbiote/parasite/host combination would allow a part of it to go unpaid for doing the same work.

But the devious part of the Tok'ra is that they're infiltrators, so they're pulling a paycheck from the Goa'uld overlords they're trying to overthrow, a paycheck from the Tok'ra treasury (is that still in Egyptian currency?), and generally a paycheck from the host's home planet. They're triple dipping, making them perhaps one of the most financially pernicious creations in all of sci-fi.

Later you'll find out that their numbers aren't very large, and what the show doesn't mention is that the reason their numbers are limited is that they can't survive an audit.

Yes, and they left some questions completely unanswered, even unasked. For example, suppose Carter's Gou'ald symbiote, Jolinar, hadn't died at the end of the episode, and Carter/Jolinar kept working for the Stargate Program. The Air Force pays Carter as an O-3 captain, but wouldn't they also have to pay Jolinar as either a GSA-15 (considering its service age, etc) or as a member of the federal senior executive service, which maxes out at about $180,000 a year? So wouldn't Carter/Jolinar get two paychecks from two different government branches, and wouldn't Jolinar's paycheck (probably as an ambassador or high-level liason) exceed Carter's pay? Since blended Goa'uld and hosts can live so long, would caps be placed on Carter/Jolinar's pension benefits? Would Carter get hazardous duty pay while off planet, while Jolinar gets hazardous duty pay on planet?

The writers never touched on these questions (perhaps because Jolinar died), yet we know they are among the first issues her superiors would have to address.

Yeah I have been quite impressed with the casting lurok. It's so nice to see people of varying ages and the interesting faces. It's would be a big yawn if Gairwyn was played by some bog standard pretty face and didn't look remotely like she'd been living rough.

Message in a Bottle: A pretty boy has a crush on Carter and much to my amazement he was still alive by the end of the episode. O'Neill's ordeal was well done, grueling in places to watch. His dead faint backwards down the ramp to the Stargate amused me. A typical sci fi mystery where an object is not as it seems.

So husband No.2 sees his wife kissing the ex-husband and just like that, BOOM, he throws away everything he believed in politically as well as throwing his step kid under a bus. Serious impulse control issues here. But hey it's okay because not only does O'Neill shoot him once to stop him he shoots him again to kill him and then shoots him a third time and completely disintegrates him! So much for that dude.

Teal'c endears himself to me by calling his sorta wife "woman".

"Silence Woman!" "Hear me Woman!"

I was kidding about the endear part.

So they escape. Remind me again why the kid and wife could not be rescued before this. After all Teal'c is not just some random refugee that got stuck on earth, he is part of the SG team. This is a little too close to Coruscant not being able to afford to buy Anakin's mom from slavery. You don't use people for your own ends and let their closest family waste away as refuse when you could do otherwise.

Forget all that though, the dumbest thing ever happened in Family. The little doctor carefully explained to Teal'c that ECT therapy was safe now, it was administered in controlled conditions under anesthetic. Everyone nods wisely. Then literally 5 seconds after this Teal'c is his kid's room and he SHOOTS the kid with an electro weapon while the kid is lying in bed and the team is all peering in the window. Forget about the doctor, the anesthetic, the medical monitoring.. the kid could have just stuck a knife in a toaster and that would have been good enough. And no one says a thing!!

I guess we just needed a dramatic Abraham and Isaac scene where Teal'c shoots his own kid. Because up to that point that's the only thing this ridiculous episode was missing.

Secrets: Oh. This was quite romantic. Daniel loves Sha're though she's carrying another man's child. Sha're loves Daniel even while under the power of the Goa'uld. I got a bit choked up during some of this, it was lovely.

But if he loves her SO MUCH why doesn't he take her baby with him?! He just leaves it on the planet with its grandfather to flee and and hide and hope that no one recognizes Grandpa carrying a baby and oh what a coincidence his daughter was having one of those though she said it got stolen by snakeheads. All he had to do was take the baby and Grandpa or even just the baby through the stargate and keep it safe for the day he would free Sha're from the Goa'uld and she would want her child.

All this abandoning kids to the vengeful vagaries of the universe is pissing me off.

The Washington story was great, I love that we and O'Neill do not know if the reporter's death was an accident. Also, Carter's father is a dick.

Secrets: If Daniel had brought Shar'e's child back through the Stargate, then Daniel would be stuck supporting a child that wasn't actually his. He'd have to spend his government salary buying toys for the child of Apophis,

in Family Tealc was trying to get his son and wife to safety, and there's an important reason he brought his wife along through the stargate, which was conveyed in a scene that they probably shot but left on the cutting room floor.

Te'alc: "What is this 'child support' you speak of Colonel O'Neill?
O'Neill: Well, when a man fathers a child and seperates from the mother, a court often makes him pay her money to raise the child while he's off doing other stuff."
Te'alc: "This is the way of the Tauri?"
Carter: "Yes Tealc, it is."
Te'alc: "I think this would greatly upset the warriors of Chulak."
O'Neill: "It might."
Te'alc: "Then I will not tell them of it."
Jackson: "Well you have to admit, it beats having wives begging for food, shelter, and protection."
Te'alc: "Jaffa warriors are strong and can endure much, as can their women."
Carter: "Still, they shouldn't have to when their husbands are able to help, I mean, he is your child, Te'alc."
Te'alc: "Indeed. He will grow into a strong warrior."
O'Neill: "And he'll grow into a stronger warrior if you pay child support."
Te'alc: "Would he not grow equally strong if if my woman stays with him and provides for his needs on a planet outside of Apophis' control?"
O'Neill: "Yeah. I suppose."
Te'alc: "Then that is what we shall do."

Later in the episode they cut a similar discussion about whether Te'alc's medical insurance would cover the ECT therapy, after which he Zats his kid.

Never assume sloppy writing when there's a bizarro alternative script.